LeRoi Jones Black Music

Annotation

The essential collection of jazz writing by the celebrated poet and author of Blues Peoplereissued with a new introduction by the author. In the 1960s, LeRoi Joneswho would later be known as Amiri Barakawas a pioneering jazz critic, articulating in real time the incredible transformations of the form taking place in the clubs and coffee houses of New York City. In Black Music, he sheds light on the brilliant young jazz musicians of the day: John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, and others. Combining firsthand immediacy with wide-ranging erudition, Black Music articulates the complexities of modern jazz while also sharing insights on the nature of jazz criticism, the creative process, and the development of a new way forward for black artists. This rich and vital collection is comprised of essays, reviews, interviews, liner notes, musical analyses, and personal impressions from 19591967. ';In Black Music, Baraka wrote with ecstasyhighly informed and intricateabout ecstatically complex music.'Richard Brody, The New Yorker